Posted - 05/18/2012 : 10:51:36 Many people were surprised with how well the LA Kings are doing in the playoffs, but one need only look at the birth certificates of the team to see where the success stems. The Kings hold the most Canadians on the their roster than any other team and hold the most North American born players with only 3 born overseas.

What does this mean? For one, almost every player has grown up with only one thing on their mind - the Stanley Cup. While their European counterparts may have dreamed of World Cups or any other soccer league trophy you can come up with.

Overall their seems to be a different mindset and determinartion from North American players and this has shown over the years as many Stanley Cup winning teams are stacked with players from Canada and USA.

Although there are always exceptions, come playoff time some just want it more than others.

7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

nuxfan

Posted - 05/20/2012 : 15:45:01

quote:Originally posted by nuxfan

I'm starting to seriously wonder if the Kings will lose again this post-season... they look unstoppable.

We may find by the end of this playoffs that the Canucks were the team to fare the best against them, go figure. I wonder if LA's deep and dominating run has saved some jobs in Vancouver this summer...

...and 3 hours after I type this, LA loses their first game since the first round.

nuxfan

Posted - 05/20/2012 : 12:43:31 I'm starting to seriously wonder if the Kings will lose again this post-season... they look unstoppable.

We may find by the end of this playoffs that the Canucks were the team to fare the best against them, go figure. I wonder if LA's deep and dominating run has saved some jobs in Vancouver this summer...

Alex116

Posted - 05/20/2012 : 12:23:06

quote:Originally posted by Guest0614

quote:Originally posted by Guest4488By the way, one of the best King's players these playoffs is Kopitar.

Umm I think you mean the King's best player these playoffs is an American with the name of Dustin Brown.

Ummm, i think he did say "one of the best King's players".

Guest0614

Posted - 05/19/2012 : 17:12:46

quote:Originally posted by Guest4488By the way, one of the best King's players these playoffs is Kopitar.

Umm I think you mean the King's best player these playoffs is an American with the name of Dustin Brown.

Guest4488

Posted - 05/18/2012 : 12:53:14 I am so tired of the whole line of thinking that Canadians are the only people who are passionate to win a Cup.

I don't know if anybody noticed but the top 3 scorers in last years playoffs were European players. I know scoring doesn't necessarily equate with passion and desire and I will admit that after the top 3 the scoring leaders are largely Canadians. Nevertheless I think it's time people realized that people from other countries would love to win the Cup.

I would be highly offended if Americans stated that Canadian born players didn't care as much about winning the MLB or NBA Championship. I'm sure it would not go well in Canada if someone stated Steve Nash didn't have the desire to win it all in the NBA because he was born north of the border.

I think the Canadian media really plays into this as well. All I've heard lately is that Russians (paticularly Semin and Ovechkin) don't really care too much to win in the NHL. And when a European plays with alot of passion in the playoffs the media will try to compare them to having a Canadian type mentality.

For some reason I didn't realize that David Krejci is European but it makes more sense to me now. Last year he lead the league in playoff scoring for the Stanley Cup champs and I feel was an integral piece (which included the whole team) of the Bruins winning. But all I kept hearing about was Thomas, Lucic, Marchand, Bergeron and others. They were key pieces too but I think Krejci definately had a bias against him (maybe even subconciously) because of where he was born.

By the way, one of the best King's players these playoffs is Kopitar.

Beans15

Posted - 05/18/2012 : 12:02:17 Here is the meat and 'taters of the whole thing:

The team with the best players who are playing the best in May and June win the Stanley Cup.

Nationality has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Daniel Alfredsson is the MVP of the universe. All hail the Ottawa Senators!!!!!

Alex116

Posted - 05/18/2012 : 10:54:41 How then, do you explain the fact that teams with many more Europeans and foreigners than the Kings have fared well? How have Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Lidstrom, etc fared so well in Detroit?

I get it, i'm Canadian too, but i don't believe for a second that at this stage of their careers a Canadian kid wants the cup any more than another player of a different nationality. It's simply human nature. When you play a competetive sport, you strive to win the ultimate goal and in this case, it's the cup.